Complaint Review: Orkin - Wilmington North Carolina

I am a former employee of Orkin , having over 16 years of experience in the pest control industry. I can vouch for the customers complaining about the pricing as well as the nature of customer service they may be receiving. My experiences initally with the company was mostly positive , but after time the policies of the company began to change. Route managers, as the company calls their technicians, are commisioned to organize and run their routes with proficiency, to the best of their abilities. What started to happen ,though, was a shift in focus from customer service to adding more customers to the routes. That would be fine except the dynamic didn't work well at first. Technicians became burdened to do what was called "same day starts" as well as operate their routes, according to the customers preferred apoointment times. Many branches, especially the one I worked at, did not provide sufficient support to do these starts and meet customer appointments. The solution for many of us was to either cut time on an existing customer, or call and ask them to reschedule, much to their inconvenience. The mantra, "ADD, PLEASE, and KEEP" was utilized to reflect the mindset of managment in building their business. In order for this concept to become more profitable for the employees, shifting customers from month to month service to every two months was used, to checkerboard schedule the routes. By doing this , they were also able to convince customers that by doing so was cheaper and provided better service as the pesticides have longer shelf life. What they didn't tell customers was that rates would rise over time. Many of the rates were raised on customers without sufficient communication, as many customers would call in and complain about not being notified. The burden of collecting money was also placed heavily on route managers. After working 10 to 12 hours a day average, the route manager would then be tasked to collect money from overdue accounts, presenting awkward situations. 

Termidor has been touted as one of the foremost pesticides used today. Depending on the state, historically Termidor was only used in treatment of ants and termites, of which termite control was the primary target pest. It is highly expensive and used on accounts where there will most likely be a premium price payed for it. The any control use was limited, applications only twice a year on a property if used as a single application on the property. It was claimed to have a long shelf life as well. 

What I have seen from the branch I worked at was there was a very high restraint on pesticides being issued to the route managers. Combine that with aforementioned same day start policy and the high volume of customers per day, and the technician would most likely run out of the pesticide needed. Many times we were reprimanded for not being more economical with our usage. This means a lot of times the route manager would 'substitute' a pesticide for another, even though it may be against the "Law of the Label" , using a cheaper pesticide over the more expensive one , in order to avoid being reprimanded . This becomes the primary reason why a pesticide may be listed as one thing, but the application is different. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what wrong with Orkin. In fact, there has been many abuses of the years towards technicians of which only recently has started to be addressed to the high turnover of employees. The recent episode of Undercover Boss was meant to be public relations address to the employees as well as to the customer. As a former employee who decided to go back to college and earn a degree in order to change my circumstances and to the customers, please watch what this comapny does carefully. If your technician is constantly calling to change schedules, or begging you to pay the bill, or calls in sick, do not be upset with them. They are a beaten and worn down workhorse just trying to make a living.

i know this report is old, but someone needs to clear up this person's ignorance.  Obviously this person has a vendetta against their technician.

1.  Orkin technicians are not trained to do a "buffer service".  We treat as needed inside.  Anything else is an inspection.  Don't like that idea?  You can thank all the people that are anxious to sue the pest control companies for a quick pay off.  You can also thank modern advancements in pesticide technology.  The days of us toting around a tin can all day are over.

2.  Orkin was founded by Otto Orkin with his original business model being pest control.  Not pest elimination.  It is owned by Rollins Inc today and that same business model has kept them in business for over 100 years.  There's no such thing as pest elimination.  If the pests can get into your home the first time, what is to stop them from getting into your home 6 months or 2 years from now? 

3.  First off, termidor is pretty much the cream-of-the-crop when it comes to pesticides.  If he was using chemicals from his pds rig (the big tank) I can assure you it wasn't termidor.  Termidor is entirely too expensive to use on a daily basis, as well as being illegal as the label limits it to being sprayed only twice per year on your property and only for very specific pests (ants being one of them).  And as we all know, THE LABEL IS THE LAW.  Our branch keeps a backpack sprayer for termidor pest treatments that we have to check out from the branch to use.

4. To say that chlordane never goes away is extremely misleading.  Chlordane was outlawed by the EPA because it doesn't breakdown.  That's not to say that every bit of chlordane ever put in the soil is still around your home's foundation.  Ever put a flowerbed in next to your foundation?  Guess what, you disrupted the treatment.  Ever had standing water against your foundation?  Or worse yet  a flood?  A pipe leak under your home that causes standing water?  The chemical may not breakdown, but the pesticide barrier can VERY much breakdown.  Please stop misleading people with your ignorant mis-information.